


Crisps?

by cheshirewritesagain2402



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Alternate Universe - Teenagers, Cute, Falling In Love, First Meetings, Fluff, M/M, Tentacles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:15:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24823690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cheshirewritesagain2402/pseuds/cheshirewritesagain2402
Summary: Cecil’s start in a new school, in a new country. He feels very alone until a cute, sciency boy starts talking with him.
Relationships: Carlos & Cecil Palmer, Carlos/Cecil Palmer
Comments: 6
Kudos: 51





	Crisps?

**Author's Note:**

> Written on my phone without being beta’d. Apologies for any typos.  
> x C.

Cecil pulled at the sleeves of his pink unicorn jumper. He loved that one. Wearing it always gave him confidence that he actually didn’t posses. And right now he needed confidence more than anything else.

The bespectacled 16-year-old hated this place. He hated that his mother had dragged him out of his environment, away from his friends, away from the small desert community that was Night Vale, because she had gotten a different job and needed to move to London. London, England, to make it worse! He had never been outside of Night Vale before and he didn’t like its The weather was terrible. It had practically been raining since they arrived and it was so much freaking colder than anything he was used to.

Cecil wanted nothing more than to go back home and be with his friends. Well, one friend to be precise. Earl. Cecil had never been popular, always the kid with the weird clothes and strange tentacle tattoos (which were actually birthmarks and he himself quite liked them). So, even by nightvalean standards he had always been odd, and that meant a lot. Like, really a lot.

Now Cecil had to cope in what felt like a whole different world, as his mother had explained to him. London wasn’t like Night Vale. No place was like Night Vale. The blonde teen just wanted to go back home. Right now.

The new building, in which he would receive his further education, loomed over him threateningly as he slowly walked closer. It was the first day of the semester for everyone, so he had hopes that there would be at least some other new kid he could befriend. 

The only good thing Cecil had found about this place so far was that his mother had already enrolled him in ballet classes. Those had been his favourite back in Night Vale, just after his internship with the Night Vale Community Radio, that is.

Cecil took a deep breath and entered the building. It would be alright. Everything would be alright. He would be fine. He could do this. He just had to find one friend and then he would be alright.

Cecil was glad that he found the way to the secretary’s office quite easily and got his paperwork. 

The more or less friendly woman told him where to go and Cecil followed her directions to a classroom, in which a bunch of students were assembled, chatting with each other, glad to be back with their friends after the holidays. 

Cecil awkwardly made his way to a seat in the back of the class while everyone, literally everyone, turned their heads to look after the pretty but strange teen with the purple trousers.

As Cecil sat, he started to pull on the sleeves of his jumper once more. He avoided looking at the others but he knew that they were still staring at him. Their talking had tampered off since he had entered the room, and now had been replaced with quiet whispers, no doubt about him.

While Cecil had never been a popular child, he had never been bullied. Bullying was strictly prohibited in Night Vale and could resort in legal actions, which wouldn’t be very pleasant for the bully (mostly death and disappearance). However, his mother had told him that there might be some students here who would try to bully him. She had advised him to tell the professors, should it get too bad, but generally to ignore it.

Cecil wasn’t sure if he was already being bullied or if they just found him weird. That would be okay. Cecil was fine with who he was; he liked the way he dressed (otherwise he wouldn’t do it) and looked (especially his purple eyes). 

The bell rung and Cecil flinched at the sound. It was so different from Night Vale. He just wanted to go home.

The spare seat beside him stayed empty, as he had expected. The students were still staring at him as he sat down, and he kept his eyes glued to the tabletop to avoid their gazes.

Suddenly a person flopped down on the chair next to him, making Cecil almost jump out of his skin.

The blonde carefully moved his eyes, not his head - only the eyes, to see who it was.

“This chair is still empy, right?”, a male voice asked. But not just any male voice, no. The oaky, smooth sound of it hit Cecil’s ears as light rain on a warm summer desert day (and Cecil only had witnessed that to happen once in his life). 

The blonde turned fully to face the other teen, who was now smiling at him, and his eyes went wide.

“You’re perfect.”, he exhaled and almost felt the hearts sparkling from his own eyes (of course there were no actual hearts coming out of his eyes now, he wasn’t in Night Vale anymore where these things were bound to happen).

The boy with the perfect teeth and even more perfect hair (dark, just the right length and so, so, so silky) looked a little confused, but he somehow still smiled.

“Uh, thanks?”

“You’re welcome.” Cecil beamed at him. Maybe this new place wasn’t that bad at all.

“I’m Carlos.”, the perfect boy introduced himself.

“I’m Cecil. I just moved here.”

“Yeah, I figured you were new, as I have never seen your face before.”

Cecil blushed. Carlos had notice that he was new. Carlos had noticed him in general! That was so... neat.

Cecil brushed a strang of his hair behind his ear, just to not toy again with the already worn out sleeves of his jumper.

“I like your jumper.”, Carlos told him and Cecil blushed even more. Thankfully he was wearing make-up that covered his blush. Against popular belief, Cecil wasn’t wearing make-up to cover spots on his pale skin, but to hide that if he actually blushed, which he apparently did a lot, this blush was purple and not red, as in other human beings. Apparently. Earl definitely had blushed red. Quite often, thinking about it. Cecil still wasn’t sure why.

“Thanks.”, the unusual teen mumbled, again wearing on the sleeves of his jumper. 

Their professor entered the room and the class fell silent. He greeted Cecil, with an albeit surprised look, but he kept a friendly smile as the teen introduced himself briefly.

————

Over the course of the day Cecil stuck close to Carlos, as they had pretty much the same classes.

Lunch was a weird affair. They didn’t even have imaginary corn, which was one of Cecil’s favourite foods and would’ve comforted him. Instead, Carlos introduced him to something called “crisps”. They were slices of potato (yes really, these people were eating potatoes here!) deep fried in oil until they were crispy (hence the name he assumed) and then sprinkled with different flavours.

Carlos’ eyes widened comically as Cecil told him that he had never heard of crisps.

“Seriously? But you do have them in the States, don’t you? You call them chips?”

Cecil frowned. He had a feeling that his and Carlos’ understanding of chips were two totally different things, so he just shook his head and mumbled something about being from a small town.

Carlos caught on to his embarassment and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Alright. Here’s what we do. These ones here are not a good brand. Let’s see. Are you free this Saturday?”

Now it was Cecil’s turn to get huge eyes of his own. Did Carlos just ask him on a date?!? Was this really happening?

“I’d love to go on a date with you.”, Cecil squeaked and blushed. 

Carlos almost dropped his tray, a look on his face that Cecil couldn’t read, and he felt stupid immediately. This hadn’t been an invite for a date. He had known the other only for a few hours. Carlos’ request had been for a friendly meeting. A nice gesture to make the new kid in town feel welcome. Maybe Carlos wasn’t into him at all. Cecil wanted to sink into the ground and never come back up (Back at home he would have been very careful with such a request, but here, he was fairly certain, nothing would happen. Still, to make sure he kept his gaze on the floor beneath his feet for a few seconds, just in case.) 

Now Carlos certainly wouldn’t want to hang out with him anymore and he had just destroyed every chance of ever being in this perfect boy’s company outside of school. Cecil wanted to cry. His eyes watering, he gripped his tray harder, trying to stop himself from having a total breakdown right in front of all the other students. And Carlos, of course. The other boy must think he was pathetic. 

Then Carlos nudged him carefully with his shoulder, a georgeous smile on his perfect lips once more, silently asking him to follow. And Cecil did, completely taken by this smile again.

Carlos sat on an empty table and Cecil took the seat beside him, still fighting tears. 

“Don’t cry. Please.”, Carlos begged and moved his hand to lie atop Cecil’s. 

“Uh, I would’ve never been this... uhm, forward, but yeah... uh, I’d like this to be a date.”, Carlos got out once he had overcome the shock and now he blushed, his caramel coloured cheeks colouring red.

The blonde looked up, eyes watery and beautiful (or so he liked to think - and judging by the way Carlos stared so did he).

“Your eyes are beautiful. Are those contacts?”

Cecil smiled shyly.

“No, they are mine.”

Carlos seemed a bit taken aback by that, but not as affronted as he had been when he had found out that the smaller boy didn’t know what chips were.

“So, back to the topic.”, Carlos said, carefully arranging his sandwich on the plate. “You come to my place on Saturday and I get us a package of every chips flavour I can find and you can find your favourite.”

Cecil smiled up at him.

“I’d love that.”

————

Saturday came and had Cecil all nervous again. The other had given him his address and now Cecil was walking the last few metres to a nice-looking townhouse in one of the better areas of London. 

He rang the doorbell nervously, fingers twisting in the sleeves of his favourite grey tunic with lovely dark grey patterns. He had even put on his furry pants, purple of course, and his beloved turqouis sneakers with the sparkling, silvery stars. He hoped he looked as gorgeous as he thought.

Carlos opened the door, his face lighting up at the sight of the boy in front of him. 

The blonde was lead into the house and shown up to Carlos’ room, which was full of science equipment and books.

“I love this.”, Cecil stated as he looked over the beakers, burners and liquids on Carlos’ desk. He cringed slightly at the sight of all these books, but his mother had assured him that they were quite safe and legal here, so he just decided not to look at them too closely.

When Cecil turned around, he realised that Carlos had been watching him. The other teen blushed as he was found out and quickly turned to grab his laptop.

“Movie?”, he asked.

Cecil nodded and went to sit on the bed, taking his shoes off first. Shoes in bed were just rude, even in Night Vale.

Carlos came to sit beside him, typing on his laptop.

“Any favourite movies?”

Cecil didn’t have to think long.

“Jaws.” He silently prayed to the Old Gods in Unmodified Summerian that the film would be the same as it was in Night Vale, because he loved it.

“Good choice.”

Carlos typed some more.

“So, you like science?”, Cecil asked, interested to find out more about his date.

Carlos looked at him, a huge smile on his face.

“Yes. I want to study science in a couple of years. There are some pretty good universities for that in America.”

Cecil peaked up. 

“America?”

“Yep. They are better over there, apparently.”

“You could come back to Night Vale with me!”

Carlos frowned. 

“That’s where you’re from?”

“Yes.”, Cecil exclaimed enthusiastically, excited that he was finally allowed to talk about his beloved home town. “It’s the best place on earth. Well, I think it is. I’ve never been anywhere else but there and here. But I’m pretty sure it is!”

“Sounds like you love it very much.” Carlos tilted his head slightly. “Do you want to go back?”

Cecil nodded, not looking at the other now.

“I miss Big Rico’s pizza - no one does a slice like Big Rico’s, no one - and I miss being a scout with my friend Earl and I miss my internship with the radio station and I miss being able to let my tentacles move freely and I miss-“

Cecil had gotten in such a rant about what he missed, that the words were just coming out of his mouth without going through his brain first.  
Cecil’s hands flew up to cover his mouth as his eyes widened in shock and he jumped so far back, that he almost fell off the bed.

Carlos stared at him, laptop forgotten in front of him.

Cecil was sure that this was the moment he would have to leave. For the second time in only one week he had messed up his chances with the perfect, beautiful boy. There was no way ever that Carlos would still want to be friends now, let alone date him. 

Cecil was so useless. This time tears spilled out of his eyes faster than he could stop them. His body was immediately wrecked by sobs, which he tried to hide behind his hands. He couldn’t move, couldn’t make himself to look at Carlos. He could just sit there and cry.

Suddenly he felt a soft arm around himself.

Cecil lifted his head to see Carlos beside him, now cuddling him close. He started to cry harder.

“Cecil. Hey. It’s okay.”

“No it isn’t.”, he cried. “You’ll hate me now. I’m weird.”

And suddenly Carlos laughed.

Cecil was so surprised that he stopped crying.

“Cecil, I knew that you were weird the moment I met you.”, Carlos said but not unkindly. “I’m more... scientifically interested in that town of yours. And those... uhm, tentacles?”

“Really?”, Cecil asked, trying to study Carlos’ face but his vision was still blurry.

“Really.”, the other boy assured him.

“Would you...” Cecil blushed. “Care to see them?”

“See what?”

Cecil blushed harder and realised that he had forgotten to put on make-up. Oh well. Carlos was about to find out something way more shocking.

“My tentacles.”

“You have them here?”

Cecil dug his fingers into the fur of his pants.

“They are part of me. Kind of.”

Then he decided to jump. He pushed the sleeves of his tunic back to his elbows, presenting his birthmarks to Carlos.

The future scientist stared at them for a long while.

“Can I touch them?”, he asked eventually.

“Yes. But they’re... a little shy.”, the blonde said, blushing again (this was becoming annoying).

Cecil could see that Carlos wanted to ask but he composed himself with a little shake of his head and went for it.

As soon as Carlos’ hand touched Cecil’s arm, the tentacles recoiled, leaving unmarked skin.

Carlos’ eyes widened and he instinctively pulled his hand back. 

Cecil winced slightly in rejection, but, to his surprise, Carlos put his hand back on his arm, as soon as the tentacles were back. They recoiled once more at the touch, but this time Carlos kept his hand where it was.

Cecil felt faint from the touch of his perfect Carlos on his arm, enjoying it more than he was most likely supposed to.

“It’s alright. We like Carlos.”, he whispered as if talking to a shy animal.

The tentacles slowly started moving towards Carlos’s fingers, albeit still cautios.

Carlos kept very still and was barely breathing (and he definitely was not part of the population of Night Vale that didn’t need to breathe anymore). 

Then the tentacles touches the future scientist’s fingers and he gasped.

“Cecil. That is...”

“Frightening? Weird? Gross? Even for Night Vale standards it was pretty bad. My friend Earl accepted me, but he didn’t like them.”

Carlos looked up into Cecil’s eyes. His beautiful dark eyes shone with wonder.

“Amazing.”, he whispered before he leaned in and kissed the completely stunned boy.

Cecil pulled away with a gasp. 

Carlos blushed, immediately moving back too.

“Sorry. I shouldn’t have tried to...”

Cecil could hit himself. Why did he keep doing this?

“No, no, sorry, I wanted you to. I’m... uh... I liked it. I just... I’ve never... and I... uh...”

Carlos smiled. 

“Hey, that’s cool. All good. Try again?”

Cecil nodded enthusiastically, making Carlos laugh.

The taller boy pulled the other one close. Cecil’s birthmarks stayed in place this time, wriggling softly.

This time, when Carlos kissed Cecil, the blonde didn’t twitch away but pressed himself closer. He felt like he was hovering a good three inches above the bed (again, totally a thing in Night Vale) and as if his stomach was full of fluttering butterflies (No, that’s even a metaphor in Night Vale, would be gross otherwise, ugh; and dangerous. Imagine these vile beasts with their claws and teeth in your intestines.)

When Carlos broke the kiss, Cecil followed him, making the other boy chuckle and lean in again.

Cecil couldn’t say how long they spend kissing on the bed, but eventually they had become completely entwined with each other, lying on the soft yet firm mattress. 

Carlos’ hair felt as amazing as it looked and Cecil couldn’t stop playing with it, burying his fingers deep in the soft strands.

One of Carlos’ hands was toying with the blonde’s hair, while the other stroked his cheek and neck.

The boys broke apart, breathing hard, smiling at each other.

Cecil’s hands were busy with Carlos’ hair, while he was stroking the other’s hip.

Carlos smiled up at him. And then froze when he realised that at least one too many “hands” were touching him. 

Stupid Cecil. Well, in for a penny... (He had picked that one up from his mother’s work colleague and liked it although he had no idea how the sentence finished.)

“Uhm, Carlos? I told you I miss to move them freely? I didn’t mean on my skin.”

Carlos was trying to see behind Cecil but couldn’t from his position on the bed. Cecil made sure that he was calm, before he moved to sit and Carlos followed suit.

Cecil’s tentacles had loosened themselves from his skin and were now hovering behind him, attached to his back. (They didn’t rip through fabric, no matter what he was wearing and that was pretty cool. He had, however, no idea how they did it.)

Carlos’ mouth gaped open in... astonishment. 

The dark haired reached out before he stopped mid-air.

“Can I touch them again?”

Now Cecil blushed seriously. He supposed his face was a very bright purple, which made him blush even harder. 

“Cecil?”

The blonde cleared his throat.

“Yes. But, uhm, you should know that it’s a very... intimate thing to do. We... people like me, wherever they may be now... used to fight with them, but there is not so much to fight now. It’s more like, uhm... I don’t know... something very private? In Night Vale I could display them freely if I wanted to, but no one is supposed to touch them, not even family, apart from, well...” Cecil blushed even harder if that was at all possible. “A partner.”, he finished quietly.

“Oh.”, Carlos exhaled and drew his hand back, a little disappointed.

“But you can, if you want to!”, Cecil blurted. “I just thought I’d tell you that first. I mean... I want you to.”

Carlos seemed to think for a moment, before he reached out and touched the nearest of the six tentacles with the tips of his fingers.

“They... are warm.”

Cecil chuckled nervously.

“Well, yes. They are a part of me, like my arms. My arms are warm too.”

Carlos gently grasped the appendage and pulled it a little closer. The tentacle went with the movement and Cecil gasped, goosebumps rising on his skin.

“You okay?”, perfect Carlos enquired gently.

Cecil smiled at him and nodded.

“Are you okay?”

Carlos smiled too.

“Yes.”

He let go of the tentacle, which immediately wrapped around his wrist. 

Now it was Carlos’ turn to gasp, but he didn’t pull away and so Cecil saw no reason to tell it to back off.

“Are they sentient? Like have their own mind?”

Cecil thought about it for a moment.

“I can control them, if I want to, but if I don’t, then they are sentient, I suppose.”

“They are so warm. And silky. And not at all slimy.”

Cecil chuckled, relaxed now that Carlos had accepted all of his weirdness without so much as blinking. (Figure of speech. Of course Carlos had to blink, because, again, he was not one of the low percentage in Night Vale born with no eyelids.)

“So, in your town, are there many like you?”

Cecil shook his head.

“My grandfather was like this, but I never met him. Otherwise, no, just me.”

The purple tentacles swayed softly up and down, shimmering and glittering in the light.

“They are beautiful, though.”, Carlos voiced his thought.

Both boys blushed (there was a lot of blushing today) respectively red and purple. 

“You are so pretty, Cecil.”

“So are you, Carlos.”

They found each other in a kiss again. This time Carlos got completely wrapped up in tentacles and arms.

Suddenly Carlos pushed away and off the bed, leaving a completely stunned Cecil behind.

“Carlos?”, he asked carefully.

Carlos jumped back on the bed with a bag in his hand, grinning.

“I almost forgot why we’re here!”

Cecil frowned. What?

“The crisps.”

And he emptied the bag onto the bed. Several bags of crisps fell onto the duvet, in all different flavours.

Carlos pulled Cecil to sit close to him, who immediately grabbed a bag and looked at the ingredients.

“Potatoes. Carlos, I’m not sure about this. Is it safe to eat?”

Carlos grinned and ripped open a bag, holding it out to Cecil.

“Totally. Well, too much of it will probably make you sick, but esentially, yes, it’s fine.”

Cecil hesitated.

“They’re good. Trust me.”

And Cecil did. So he took a chip, eyed it carefully and popped it into his mouth. He chewed. And his eyes widened in surprise.

“Carlos. This is amazing! Are all potatoes that tasty?“

Carlos gaped at him.

“You’re not eating potatoes in Night Vale?”

Cecil shook his head as he munched another chip.

“No chips? No mashed potaotes? No... Oh my, looks like we have a few more dates ahead of us.”, Carlos pretended to be shocked and Cecil laughed, before growing serious again.

“I would like that very much.”

Carlos kissed the tip of his nose.

“Me too. You can tell me more about Night Vale.”

Cecil positively beamed. “I’d love to.”

Carlos cuddled up with Cecil, while trying their way through the various sorts of crisps, and started the movie. (Which was, more or less, the same as in Night Vale.)

At some point during the film, one of Cecil’s tentacles had found its way to Carlos’ ankle and wrapped itself around it. Both boys pretended not to notice, but they squeezed themselves together just that little more tightly.


End file.
